Fox’s Ed Henry questions why Howard University is receiving federal coronavirus funding

Howard is a federally chartered university, and its hospital serves a city of over 600,000 people

Written by Bobby Lewis

Published

On March 26, Fox News anchor Ed Henry asked Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) how congressional Democrats could suggest it was a pro-worker approach to delay a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package in order to secure, among other things, $13 million in funding for Howard University. Henry and his guest both failed to mention that Howard University Hospital is a coronavirus treatment center, an important research hospital, and a significant part of the capital’s health care infrastructure. 

From the March 26, 2020, edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom

ED HENRY (CO-ANCHOR): I want to get to the meat and substance of the bill, but when Nancy Pelosi frames that, as the speaker, that this was all about the Democrats going for workers, how does she explain the fact that the bill includes $13 million for Howard University, $25 million for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -- a wonderful institution, but I'm not sure what it has to do with the coronavirus -- and $75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities. How can she frame it that way, when the reality looks a little different? 

The previous afternoon, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and other right-wing personalities tweeted similar criticism of Howard receiving emergency funding, and people were quick to point out several obvious reasons why the university might get funding from the coronavirus relief bill.